North Korea fires two ballistic missiles into sea, days after testing missile that could reach Japan
- South Korea said it was convening its national security council while Japan’s PM Yoshihide Suga condemned the launch as ‘outrageous’
- Pyongyang had tested a new long-range cruise missile capable of hitting Japan on the weekend
The two ballistic missiles launched from a site in central North Korea flew toward the waters of the Korean peninsula’s east coast on Wednesday afternoon, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
The statement said South Korean and US intelligence authorities are analysing more details about the North Korean launches. While Japan’s Defence Ministry said the projectiles did not enter Japanese territory, they were initially believed to have landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
Seoul said it would convene its national security council over the launch while Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga called the launch “outrageous”, and strongly condemned the action as a threat to peace and security of the region.
The launch came days after the North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported that it had test-fired a new “long-range cruise missile” over the weekend, calling it a “strategic weapon of great significance”.
Pictures in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper on Monday showed a missile exiting one of five tubes on a launch vehicle in a ball of flame, and a missile in horizontal flight.